Audio conferencing devices 10a, shown in simplified form in FIG. 1, allow potentially large numbers of conference participants to communicate with each other through a variety of different audio media. Such devices are usefully deployed in a single room, requiring only a single device, such as 10a, or in larger room may require an addition devices, such as 10b, connected by a link 15. Alternatively, the audio conferencing devices 10a and 10b can be located in remote locations. Examples of audio conference systems 10a include those manufactured by Polycom, Inc., including their Vortex® line of products, which may be deployed in environments such as schools, churches, corporate board rooms, court rooms, etc.
A typical audio conferencing device 10a is able to handle a variety of different audio (or audio/video) input devices, such as microphones 12, or stereo deck 14, which has a left and right channel. Similarly, the audio conferencing device 10a is coupleable to numerous different potential audio (or audio/video) output devices, such as mono speaker 22, stereo speakers 20 (having left and right channels), or audio recorder 24. Some audio devices may also have audio input/output capability, such as telephone 16. Other audio devices can be coupled to the audio conference device 10a, as one skilled in the art understands, and the foregoing devices audio input/output devices are merely illustrative.
Generally speaking, the audio conferencing device 10a processes the incoming audio signals from the audio input devices to generate output audio signals that are broadcast through the output audio devices and into the intended environment. Such processing might include, for example, implementation of echo and noise cancellation routines. However, at a more basic level, the audio conferencing device is also used to connect, or “map,” the audio inputs to the outputs, and to appropriately optimize the signals in accordance with the inputs and outputs being used. Both of these mapping and optimization functions are performed by the controller 26 within the device 10a. 
Mapping describes the manner in which the controller 26 couples the inputs to the outputs. In this regard, sophisticated audio conferencing devices like the Vortex® can flexibly route audio signals from various input ports to various output ports. As such devices typically have several input and output ports, mapping informs the system administrator how to connect the various input and output devices to the system.
As noted above, the controller 26 also preferably allows for signal optimization appropriate for the input and output devices that are coupled to it. In a simple signal optimization example, if a mono microphone input is to be broadcast to stereo speakers, the controller adjusts the gain sent to each channel (left and right) of the stereo speaker by −3dB, so that each speaker's volume is decreased to compensate for the two channels of audio output. In another example, suppose a particular type of speaker is chosen which has a relatively low bass output. Knowing this, the system can be adjusted to boost the gain on the bass (low frequencies) to better improve the audio being broadcast from that speaker. Other input devices might be particularly noisy, requiring more intensive noise reduction or filtering schemes.
Such optimization and mapping can be accomplished by the use of user interface software running on a personal computer 28 (or similar device having like functionality), which couples to the controller 26, and which can be used by an audio system administrator to perform the mapping and optimization functions described above. User interface software is well known in the audio conferencing art, and for example, includes the Conference Composer™ software package that accompanies the Vortex.™ product line. The reader's familiarity with Conference Composer is assumed, and therefore it is only briefly described. (Further details concerning the operation and structure of Conference Composer can be found in Polycom Inc.'s Conference Composer User's Guide. A copy of this user guide is filed with this disclosure, and it is hereby incorporated by reference). Basically, Conference Composer is a Microsoft Windows™ program, and when run on computer 28 displays, in typical Windows fashion, various options that the system administrator can adjust to achieve the mapping and optimization functions described earlier. Exemplary screen shots from Conference Composer are shown in FIGS. 10A-10G.
Conference Composer can be daunting to operate for even an experienced system administrator. As a review of FIGS. 10A-10G shows, Conference Composer provides many different options to the system administrator, each reflected in tab-selectable screens (System (FIG. 10A), Options, Mic/Line Inputs (FIG. 10B), Dialer, Input Filters (FIG. 10C), AutoMixer (FIG. 10D), EF bus, Matrix Mixer (FIG. 10E), Output Filters (FIG. 10F), Outputs (FIG. 10G), Logic Input, Logic Output, Presets, Macros, and Diagnostics). Each of these screens in turn provides different sub-options that the administrator can choose or adjust. For example, FIG. 10E shows the “Matrix Mixer,” which shows how the various input and output devices are mapped, and in which each entry in the matrix sets forth the gain amplification from a particular input to a particular output. These gain values can be adjusted by the system administrator to achieve desired sound in the environment in which the audio conferencing system is placed. Other screens provide similar audio processing options, each with its own attendant complexities for the administrator.
While providing the system administrator with much flexibility to optimize and map, perform other administrative functions, and otherwise tailor the audio conferencing environment as desired, Conference Composer, or other similar software packages, can be complicated to operate, especially for the system administrator who is using the software or the system for the first time. In general, such administrators simply want the audio conferencing system to work “right out of the box,” without substantial learning or system adjustments on their part. In short, they generally want to know where they should connect the input and output devices, to make these connections, and then to turn the system on and have the system otherwise configure itself as appropriate, leaving the administrator to merely adjust or “tweak” system parameters rather than having to adjust system options manually from scratch, and tab by tab (or screen by screen). This disclosure provides such a solution.